Flushometer auxiliary valve

ABSTRACT

A diaphragm-type of flush valve for use with toilet devices such as urinals and water closets has a body with an inlet and an outlet. There is a valve seat between the inlet and the outlet and a valve member is movable to a closing position on the valve seat to stop flow through the flush valve. The valve member includes a diaphragm which is peripherally attached to the body and there is a pressure chamber above the diaphragm for holding the valve member on the valve seat. A bypass orifice connects the inlet and the pressure chamber. The diaphragm has a vent passage connecting the pressure chamber and the outlet. There is an auxiliary valve closing the vent passage, with the auxiliary valve including an auxiliary valve head and a stem extending downwardly therefrom. The auxiliary valve head has a bore with a lower open end. The bore has a first portion with a first diameter and a second portion with a larger diameter. The second portion of larger diameter is adjacent the lower open end of the bore. The stem has an end thereof positioned within the bore, with the stem end having an end portion with an outer diameter less than the outer diameter of the stem through a major portion of its length. The stem portion is received in the first bore portion when the stem is attached to the auxiliary valve head.

THE FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to flush valves of the type used withtoilet devices such as urinals and water closets and particularly to adiaphragm-type of flush valve. More specifically, the invention relatesto the auxiliary valve which vents the pressure chamber which holds thediaphragm in a closed position. There has in the past been a problem inthe assembly of the auxiliary valve which includes a valve head and astem which extends downwardly therefrom and is positioned to becontacted by the flush valve handle. In prior art flush valves, andparticularly the auxiliary valve, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No.5,332,192, assigned to Sloan Valve Company, the assignee of the presentapplication, there were no means to align the stem with the bore in theauxiliary valve head, with the result that assembly was not efficientand at times was cumbersome. Further, in the auxiliary valve shown inthe '192 patent, the bore had the same inner diameter throughout itslength, which inner diameter was smaller than the outer diameter of thestem which was positioned within the bore. The result was that theforcing of the valve stem into the bore passage caused a swaging ormovement of the plastic material of the auxiliary valve head surroundingthe bore, which also made assembly difficult.

The present invention provides an auxiliary valve head which has boreportions with different diameters and the stem which fits within thebore has stem portions with different diameters to mate with thecorresponding bore portions. Further, the end of the stem which is to bealigned with the auxiliary valve head bore during assembly is chamferedfor ease in aligning these two elements during assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved auxiliary valve for use ina diaphragm-type flush valve.

A primary purpose of the invention is to provide an auxiliary valve foruse in a diaphragm-type flush valve which has the stem and the boreportion of the valve head formed with consistently variant diameters forease in assembly.

Another purpose is an auxiliary valve head of the type described inwhich the end of the stem which is to be inserted within the valve headbore is chamfered for ease in alignment during the assembly process.

Other purposes will appear in the ensuing specification, drawings andclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the following drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view, in part section, illustrating a flush valve ofthe type described;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section illustrating the diaphragm assembly;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the auxiliary valve stem; and

FIG. 4 is an axial section through the auxiliary valve head illustratingthe valve head bore prior to positioning of the auxiliary valve stemtherein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the drawings, a flush valve of the type manufactured by the assigneeof the present application, Sloan Valve Company, of Franklin Park, Ill.,and sold under the trademark ROYAL, is shown to include a body 10 havingan inlet connection 12 and an outlet connection 14. A diaphragmassembly, indicated generally at 16, includes a diaphragm 18peripherally held to the body 10 by an inner cover 20. The diaphragm isseated upon a shoulder 22 at the upper end of body 10 and is clamped inthis position by the inner cover 20. An outer cover 24 is screwthreadedonto the body to hold the inner cover in position.

The diaphragm assembly 16, as shown in FIG. 1, is closed upon a valveseat 26 formed at the upper end of a barrel 28. The barrel 28 forms theconduit connecting the valve seat with outlet 14. The diaphragm assembly16 includes an auxiliary or relief valve 30 having adownwardly-extending stem 32 carrying a movable sleeve 34. Sleeve 34 ispositioned for contact by a plunger 36 when operated by a handle 38 asis conventional in the operation of flush valves of the type disclosed.

Focusing specifically on the diaphragm assembly 16, in addition to thediaphragm 18 and the auxiliary valve 30, this assembly includes aretaining disc 40, having an upper portion 42 threaded to a lowerportion 44. The retaining disc 40 is threadedly attached to a guide 46.A refill head 48 is seated on an outward shoulder 50 on the guide withthe diaphragm 18 being clamped between the refill head 48 and theunderside of retaining disc 40. Diaphragm 18 includes a bypass orifice52 connected to the inlet or supply 12 to provide water for chamber 54above diaphragm assembly 16. As is known in the art, flush valves of thetype disclosed herein require pressure in chamber 54 in order tomaintain the diaphragm closed upon its seat 26. Water at inlet 12 willflow through the described bypass to reach chamber 54 and will maintainthe diaphragm in the closed position shown. Pressure in chamber 54 isvented through guide 46 which forms a vent passage, with flow throughthe passage being controlled by the auxiliary valve 30. When pressurewithin chamber 54 drops, the diaphragm assembly 16 is raised off of seat26 by inlet pressure to open a flow path through the flush valve.

In the auxiliary valve 30 of the above-referenced '192 patent, the boreof the auxiliary valve, or relief valve as it is sometimes designated,has a constant internal diameter. The end of the valve stem which isreceived within the bore is stepped and has an O.D. greater than theI.D. of the valve head bore. This difference in diameters, althoughproviding a firm press fit between the two elements, does not lenditself to ease of assembly. Further, because of the described differencein diameters there is often difficulty in aligning the end of the stemwith the bore in the auxiliary valve head. The present inventionovercomes these problems by the use of a stepped bore and a consistentlystepped end on the valve stem 32.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the valve stem 32 has an end portion 60 whichhas an outer diameter slightly less than the outer diameter of the majorportion 62 of the valve stem. The portions 60 and 62 are joined by atapered stem portion 64 of short axial extent. The end of stem 34 has achamfer 66 which is used in alignment of the stem with the auxiliaryvalve head bore prior to assembly.

The auxiliary valve head is indicated at 68 and has a bore 70 with a topvent hole 71. The bore 70 has a first portion 72 which has a smallerdiameter than a second bore portion 74, with the bore portion 74 beingadjacent the open end of bore 70. As shown in the assembly of FIG. 2,the stem will extend a substantial length of the bore 70, with the stemportion 60 of reduced outer diameter being positioned within the boreportion 72 having the smallest diameter. The tapered stem portion 64will be positioned at the tapered junction or stop 76 between the boreportions of differing diameter indicated at 72 and 74. Thus, the depthof insertion is fixed as the tapered area 64 will contact the taperedarea 76 of the bore or the junction between the two bore portions ofdiffering diameter which will limit the extent to which the stem can beinserted within the bore of the auxiliary valve. Alignment duringassembly is insured because of the chamfer 66 and the fact that stemportion 60 has a smaller diameter than bore portion 74. Any pressurebuilt up above the stem during assembly will be vented through hole 71.

The invention is particularly concerned with an auxiliary valve headwhich is simple in construction and can be reliably assembled to giveconsistent product quality. The bore of the auxiliary valve head and itsmating stem have portions of consistent diameter relationships so as tolimit the extent to which the stem is inserted within the bore and toinsure that the stem can be easily aligned with the bore prior toassembly.

Whereas the preferred form of the invention has been shown and describedherein, it should be realized that there may be many modifications,substitutions and alterations thereto.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A diaphragm-type offlush valve for use with toilet devices such as urinals and waterclosets including a body having an inlet and an outlet, a valve seatbetween said inlet and outlet and a valve member movable to a closingposition on said valve seat to stop flow between said inlet and outlet,said valve member including a diaphragm peripherally attached to saidbody, a pressure chamber above said diaphragm for holding said valvemember on said valve seat, a bypass orifice connecting said inlet andpressure chamber, a vent passage in said diaphragm connecting saidpressure chamber and said outlet, and an auxiliary valve closing saidvent passage, said auxiliary valve including an auxiliary valve head anda stem extending downwardly therefrom, said auxiliary valve head havinga bore with a lower open end, said bore having a first portion with afirst diameter and a second portion with a larger diameter, said secondportion of larger diameter being adjacent the lower open end of saidbore, said first and second bore portions being joined by a taperedportion, said stem having an end thereof positioned within said bore,said stem end having an end portion with an outer diameter less than theouter diameter of the stem through a major portion of its length, saidstem end portion being received in the first bore portion when said stemis attached to said auxiliary valve head, said stem end portion beingjoined to the major portion of said stem by a tapered area, the oppositeends of which have diameters equal to that of the stem end portion andthe outer diameter of the major portion of the stem, said stem taperedarea being positioned at said bore tapered portion, said first andsecond portions and said tapered portion having essentially matingconfigurations at said stem end portion and said tapered area, whereby,said stem end may be easily inserted into said bore with essentially noswaging of the material surrounding said bore and for maintaining properalignment between said stem end portion and said auxiliary valve head.2. The diaphragm-type flush valve of claim 1 wherein said stem endportion has a chamfered end for use in aligning said stem forpositioning within said auxiliary valve head bore.